The 2011 UCI Para-Cycling Track World Championships kicked off in Montichiari, Italy, on Friday, as the World's best para-cyclists raced on the covered, wooden track of the state-of-the art velodrome.

The international event boasts the highest number of participants in its history competing for the coveted World titles in each categories and disciplines.

The 2011 UCI Para-Cycling Track Championships uses, for the first time, the classification system introduced in 2010. The last Para-Cycling Track World Championships were held in November 2009.

"The calibre of competition and depth of field rose drastically since the last Para-Cycling Track World Championships. We saw two World Records being shattered on the opening day of the competition, and an incredible rise in the number of participants in all the events," said Sebastien Travers, development coach of the Canadian Para-Cycling Team. "Overall, our Canadians fared well in the competitions, with some solid performances by veterans and upbeat performances by some young athletes with bright futures in the sport."

"With the limited competition opportunities in track para-cycling, it is very difficult to observe where we stand against the rest of the World, and who our main competitors will be," continued Travers. "We will certainly have to go back to the drawing board and prepare differently for the Games in 2012."

On opening day, the Individual Pursuit was the showcase discipline for the mens C category, as well as the 1000m Time Trial for both the men and women tandems.

In C1, Jaye Milley of Calgary, Alberta, finished fifth overall, immediately in front of this teammate Brayden McDougall, also of Calgary, in sixth. McDougall was allowed a rerun after his competitor fell in the opening half of the first lap, and had a solid shot at a medal entering the second attempt.

Matthieu Parent of Granby, Québec, finished 14th in the C2 category, while Eric Bourgeault of Orford, Québec, placed 15th in the C4 category.

In the Men's tandem kilo, Daniel Chalifour of St-Jérôme, Québec, and his pilot Alexandre Cloutier of St-Antoine-de-Tilly, Québec, the defending Canadian champions in both the kilo and the pursuit, posted Canada's top result with a sixth place amongst the 33 tandems in the race.

The Calgary tandem of William Stanley and Doug Baron had a great start to the race, finishing 13th. The tandem will be looking for a better performance in the sprint events. Stanley and Baron were taking part in their first ever World Championships race. Baron is a former national team member in track cycling.

Brian Cowie of Burnaby, BC, and his new, temporary pilot Luc Dionne of Sorel, Québec, went on to finish 18th, a decent result considering the team had been practicing together only for the a few week, with the regular pilot unavailable for the event.

In the women's tandem kilo race, Genevieve Ouellet of Amos, Québec, and Émilie Roy of Québec City, Québec, suffered from major mechanical issues in the first lap, and therefore had to sit and wait for the restart of their race. The only Canadian women's tandem went on to finish 12th in their second attempt. Despite the mechanical issues, the race was a good preparation for the pursuit on Sunday, their specialty race.